Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter XIV
Evaluating Group Differences in
Gender During the Formation of
Relationship Quality and Loyalty
in ISP Service
Chieh-Peng Lin
Vanung University, Taiwan
Cherng G. Ding
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
abstraCt
This study examines the moderating role of gender during the formation of relationship quality and loy-
alty in the context of IT service. In the proposed model, expertise, relational selling behavior, perceived
network quality, and service recovery indirectly influence a customer's loyalty through mediation of
relationship quality. Gender moderates each model path. The moderating effects are examined simul-
taneously using data from customers of Taiwan's leading Internet service provider. Test results indicate
that the influences of perceived network quality on relationship quality and of relationship quality on
loyalty are stronger for males than females, while relational selling behavior influences relationship
quality more for females than for males. Furthermore, service recovery influences relationship quality for
both the male and female groups, but its influence does not differ significantly between the two groups.
Finally, expertise exerts an insignificant influence on relationship quality for both groups. Implications
of the empirical findings also are discussed.
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